The Government has reduced its stake in Lloyds Banking Group to less than 8% following its latest share sale.
It means the taxpayer’s stake in the bank now stands at 7.99%, with more than £17bn having been returned to Government coffers since the bank’s £20.3bn bailout.
Chancellor Philip Hammond said yesterday that making sure the Government got back all of the cash taxpayers injected into Lloyds during the financial crisis “is one of my top priorities.”
A Lloyds spokesman added: “Today’s announcement shows the further progress made in returning Lloyds Banking Group to full private ownership.”
All proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce the national debt. The Government has progressively sold down its original 43% stake in Lloyds and in October ditched plans for a share sale to the public, opting instead to offload the holding to institutional investors.
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